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972 Posts
It started with an automotive jack stand and a 2"x2" square of vinyl tile, two toothbrushes, and a can of EP grease.
Once I started doing trail rides, I realized that I was gonna have to put my grubby mitts to work lubing my own chain at least once a week.
After my highway tour last weekend and hitting 1500 miles on the ODO, I noticed an uncharacteristic noise coming from my drive chain. Upon checking, I saw that the inevitable was upon me: time to adjust chain tension!
The idea of actually loosening a nut on my cherry, dealer-serviced only TW was almost as scary as paying some kid at the Yamaha dealer $200 to do it for me, but my cheapness prevailed!
I borrowed a torque wrench from my local auto parts store (free after my deposit was refunded), broke out my metric ruler, tightened the chain tensioner plate one notch, spun the torque wrench until it clicked, loosened off the axle nut again, reset the torque wrench from the bottom, repeated, and after kissing my wife like a soldier going off to war I took the TW for a 10 mile test drive.
Long story short, I still have all of my teeth and skin.
After 1000 miles of riding in triple-digit heat since my last oil change, I figure it's about time to tackle that aspect of maintenance too.
I can only hope that my next attempt at motorcycle maintenance is as Zen as my first.
Incidentally, I found out that my local auto parts store stocks Royal Purple. Any thoughts on the right mileage to switch to synthetic?
Once I started doing trail rides, I realized that I was gonna have to put my grubby mitts to work lubing my own chain at least once a week.
After my highway tour last weekend and hitting 1500 miles on the ODO, I noticed an uncharacteristic noise coming from my drive chain. Upon checking, I saw that the inevitable was upon me: time to adjust chain tension!
The idea of actually loosening a nut on my cherry, dealer-serviced only TW was almost as scary as paying some kid at the Yamaha dealer $200 to do it for me, but my cheapness prevailed!
I borrowed a torque wrench from my local auto parts store (free after my deposit was refunded), broke out my metric ruler, tightened the chain tensioner plate one notch, spun the torque wrench until it clicked, loosened off the axle nut again, reset the torque wrench from the bottom, repeated, and after kissing my wife like a soldier going off to war I took the TW for a 10 mile test drive.
Long story short, I still have all of my teeth and skin.
After 1000 miles of riding in triple-digit heat since my last oil change, I figure it's about time to tackle that aspect of maintenance too.
I can only hope that my next attempt at motorcycle maintenance is as Zen as my first.
Incidentally, I found out that my local auto parts store stocks Royal Purple. Any thoughts on the right mileage to switch to synthetic?
